Two People Arrested in Death of RIT Professor

Two Rochester residents have been arrested in the fatal shooting of Rochester Institute of Technology professor Edline Chun.

Jerrelle Henry and, his girlfriend, Natalie Johnson were arraigned in City Court Friday and are being held in the Monroe County jail without bail. Both are facing charges of 2nd degree murder.

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says the case will be handled by Assistant District Attorney Perry Duckles.

"They've entered a plea of not guilty," Doorley says. "The matter has been sent down for a preliminary hearing which is scheduled for next Wednesday, March 6th. The District Attorney's Office plans to present evidence to the Grand Jury prior to that date of the preliminary hearing."

Doorley says Grand Jury participants could likely be asked to consider additional charges. Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard says they beleive the motive behind Chun's death was robbery. That's after Henry was apprehended while in possession of Chun's car.

"Jerell Henry quickly became a person of interest," Sheppard says. "Jerrell Henry was released on patrol in December of 2012. However, prior to his incarceration he had lived next door to Ms. Chun for a number of years. Therefore, they were known to each other."

Sheppard praise police investigators and analysts in the Monroe Crime Analysis Center for their work on this case. Lauren Cardella says Chun has been a colleague of her's for the past 6 years at RIT.

"It's nice to know there's some closure coming to everything," she says. "Knowing that there have been two people that have been arrested and charges are coming... [It] just kind of puts those final pieces back together. Why? And what happened?"

Cardella described Chun as dedicated to her students, one who loved gardening and cooking. In fact, Cardellas says Chun was in the process of writing her first cook book.

Chun was a member of many Rochester organizations as well as a founder of the Sojouner House in the early 80s.

Chun was shot to death in her Hazelwood Terrace home on February 3rd. She was found three days later by workers at Tryon Park while conducting routine maintenance at a pure water facility.